Low end gaming computer 2012

[16andclueless]

Hello,
I am clueless 16 year old who wishes to build an inexpensive (preferably under 600) mid-ranged gaming computer

I need somewhere to start
I also thought about maybe buying a low end computer and upgrading it to what I want.
But like I said I am a clueless 16 year old(enough said)

 

[chain220]

Depending on your definition of clueless, you may want to reconsider building a PC. That being said, it's not terribly difficult if you do some research. I recently built myself a rather budget PC which is great for gaming. Doesn't quite fulfill your budget, but mine didn't include a monitor OS or anything else.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($67.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H61M-E33/W8 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.75 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $525.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-05 00:02 EST-0500)

 

[rambostyrer]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/budget-gaming-do-it-yourself-computer,3364-10.html

this is a good starting point for picking out the parts you want, for a gaming pc that will get you a decent performance.

But try and browse the web for written or video guides on how to pick the hardware that suits you and how to assemble it yourself.....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED_6asYE2yk

this is a good guide on how to assemble a pc, just ignore the hardware suggestions, as they are outdated.......

 

[Avinoam73]

i'd suggest go with an AMD quad CPU because they are cheap and some of them better than intel's i3, like the Phenom II or the on of the FX series (if you do buy the FX-4100 i'd suggest OC it. i did it, and the performence is up by about 30%).

GPU- i could easily recommend you mine, it's a radeon 6850 1Gb. it costs about 80~100 bucks, but if it's too expensive you can go with the nVidia 550-ti 1GB.

as for ram: you can't go wrong as long as it's 4GB and higher.

520 Watts power supply should be enough, and as for motherboard, just pick a cpu and search for the cheapest motherboard that supports it.

if you're looking for a hard drive as well just take a 500 GB one and you'll be alright.
hope i've helped!!

 

[Avinoam73]

[quotemsg=1808776,2,974450]Depending on your definition of clueless, you may want to reconsider building a PC. That being said, it's not terribly difficult if you do some research. I recently built myself a rather budget PC which is great for gaming. Doesn't quite fulfill your budget, but mine didn't include a monitor OS or anything else.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($67.74 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H61M-E33/W8 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($35.75 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $525.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-05 00:02 EST-0500)[/quotemsg]
dude, the G860 cpu will bottleneck the hell outta 7850.
you'll need at least a quad core. and one of the best of not the best.

 

[casper1973]

Just to give you an idea of what you can get from an AMD build for that budget. Probably a little over budget by the time you buy an OS though.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-4300 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($123.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M LX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($68.90 @ Mwave)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.57 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB Video Card ($164.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.39 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer ($20.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $587.60
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-05 10:03 EST-0500)

 

[chain220]

[quotemsg=1808837,5,739939]dude, the G860 cpu will bottleneck the hell outta 7850.
you'll need at least a quad core. and one of the best of not the best.[/quotemsg]

No it won't. That's the setup I'm running right now. The only games I get slightly less performance than I should are the really CPU intensive ones. The G860 is great even though it's cheap, and only a dual-core. If there's any bottleneck it's very minimal.

 

[simon12]

+1 I would definitely go for chains build AMDs FX CPUs just can't match Intel for gaming value even with twice as many cores unless you overclock them like crazy. Also people don't realize enough you need to spend around double on the graphics card than the processor on a gaming PC.

 

[chain220]

The only thing I'd advise about my build is a different motherboard. The 7850 will cover up two SATA ports on that particular motherboard because it's rather large.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

600 WHAT ?? Chinese, Russian , English , American ???

All the best Brett

 

[Avinoam73]

i don't know about the G860 a lot only that it's pretty old and a dual core.
anyways, my FX-4100 is OC'd to 4.2 ghz because it is crap with it's retail settings, but the OC is so easy you can get to a level of an I5 while doing that. besides, with all do respect for the G860, it is a dual core, and it is pretty old.
if he does not afraid to overclok he should go with the FX. if not, maybe an i3-i5 will do.
of course, they are a lot more expensive..

 

[chain220]

The G860 is definitely old, and a dual core definitely doesn't sound great, I agree. It's sufficient at this budget though, and will work perfectly fine with the 7850. If there's room in the budget to go to an i3 or i5, that'd be optimal. The OP didn't say whether he needed a monitor, OS, mouse, keyboard or anything else so he may need the extra budget room for that.

 

[Avinoam73]

i still don't know about that CPU, but since you're the one having it, you know better!
but, since it's a gaming rig, best thing to check is how it handles games.
battlefield 3? assassin's creed 3? (coding problem makes it a CPU slaughter machine) MoH: warfighter? crysis 2?
when i bought my gaming rig i checked for this games first of all. i'm also curios of how the G860 can handle those games.

 

[chain220]

I don't have any of the games you mentioned, but in Far Cry 3 with the exact build I posted, I can get 40-45 fps in 1080p on very high settings. That's just about the only really demanding game I play.

 

[michaelmk86]

http://teksyndicate.com/videos/build-best-550-pc-nov-dec-2012

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor $81.99
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard $61.97
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory $29.99
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $54.99
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card $214.98
Case: Apex Vortex 3620 ATX Mid Tower Case $31.62
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $53.99
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer $15.99

Total: $545.52

 

[aefety]

best thing to check is how it handles games.

 

[Avinoam73]

[quotemsg=1809184,15,974450]I don't have any of the games you mentioned, but in Far Cry 3 with the exact build I posted, I can get 40-45 fps in 1080p on very high settings. That's just about the only really demanding game I play.[/quotemsg]
sorry bro, but that's a bottleneck. you can check your GPU load. there's no way that GPU gets those FPS. i'm not saying you should go buy a new CPU; that's a great FPS, i'm just saying that he can buy a video card that the CPU won't bottleneck for a smaller price.

[quotemsg=1809197,0,203661]http://teksyndicate.com/videos/build-best-550-pc-nov-dec-2012

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor $81.99
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard $61.97
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory $29.99
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $54.99
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card $214.98
Case: Apex Vortex 3620 ATX Mid Tower Case $31.62
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $53.99
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer $15.99

Total: $545.52[/quotemsg]
1+ for that!

 

[chain220]

[quotemsg=1809435,18,739939]sorry bro, but that's a bottleneck. you can check your GPU load. there's no way that GPU gets those FPS. i'm not saying you should go buy a new CPU; that's a great FPS, i'm just saying that he can buy a video card that the CPU won't bottleneck for a smaller price.[/quotemsg]

Wow. So it's almost as if you agree with exactly what I've been saying. I never said it won't bottleneck it. I just said it will a little. I also said, definitely go with better components if there's room in the budget for it.

 

[Avinoam73]

oh, sorry then...